Karel Appel (1921-2006)
Lot 258

Karel Appel (1921-2006)

Sketch for Playroom no.1

Closed15 April 2015

Price Realised

EUR 73,500

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Karel Appel (1921-2006)
Sketch for Playroom no.1
signed and dated 'ck. Appel 1951' (lower right); signed and dated 'ck. Appel 1951' (on the frame)
mixed media on paper mounted on board
192 x 103.5 cm.
Painted in 1951

Collection family Van der Elsken-Kando, Amsterdam.
Anon. sale, Sotheby's Amsterdam, 21 October 1985, lot 10, titled as Figuur.
James Goodman Gallery, New York.

Specialist note

The present lot was made for the room of the children of Ed van der Elsken and Ata Kando in their house on the Achtergracht, Amsterdam.

'When I started, I used to look at children's drawings. They gave me the impetus I needed to free myself from the things I'd learnt during my classical education ... The child in man is all that's strongest, most receptive, most open and unpredictable. "Adult" means "controlled". A child lives spontaneously; he's not aware of his talent; he looks at everything as though he were seeing it for the first time.'
(quoted by A. Verdet in Karel Appel: Paintings 1980-85, exh.cat., Bristol, Arnolfini, 1986, pp.18-19)